Biglaw firms across the country are implementing all manner of initiatives to bring attention to the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion among their ranks and within the legal community at large, with many going so far as to make diversity-related activities billable and bonus-eligible. What better way to see which firms are truly honoring their commitments to diversity from the top down than a new ranking of sorts?
Bloomberg Law recently introduced its inaugural Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Framework, a methodology the company says is the legal industry’s first — and only — way to measure law firms’ performance in this critical arena. Here’s a short summary on what the DEI Framework takes into account:
The members of the DEI Framework were recognized based on their level of disclosure of diversity-related metrics and distinguished performance against six core pillars: demographics, leadership and talent pipeline, recruitment and retention, business innovation and strategy, marketing, and diversity and inclusion in the community.
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A more detailed description for the DEI Framework is available here. And now, without further ado, the members of Bloomberg Law’s 2021 DEI Framework:
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
- Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC
- Cadwalader, Wickersham, & Taft LLP
- CDF Labor Law LLP
- Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry, PC
- Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC
- Covington & Burling LLP
- Crowell & Moring LLP
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
- Epstein Becker Green
- Fish & Richardson P.C.
- Fox Rothschild LLP
- Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP
- Frost Brown Todd LLC
- Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP
- Kutak Rock LLP
- Lane Powell PC
- Lowenstein Sandler LLP
- McCarter & English, LLP
- McDermott Will & Emery LLP
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
- Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC
- Potomac Law Group, PLLC
- Reed Smith LLP
- Thompson Coburn LLP
- Vinson & Elkins LLP
“Clients are looking to law firms that reflect their values and have demonstrated a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” said Joe Breda, president, Bloomberg Law. “[T]he 28 firms that we’ve recognized as part of the inaugural Bloomberg Law DEI Framework clearly fit the bill.”
Congratulations to all of the law firms that made the cut for this important list.
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The 2021 Bloomberg Law DEI Framework [Bloomberg Law]
28 U.S.-Based Law Firms Recognized As Members Of Bloomberg Law’s Inaugural Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Framework [Bloomberg Law]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.